3rd clemency hearing set for Oklahoma child killer

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has scheduled another clemency hearing for a child killer facing execution later this month, marking the third date the panel has had Kevin Ray Underwood on its agenda.

The clemency hearing for Underwood is set for 9 a.m. Friday.

The hearing was rescheduled while a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit stay was pending as the panel considered his appeal of a lower court’s decision allowing the clemency hearing to move forward.

The federal appellate court on Wednesday lifted the stay.

Underwood and his attorneys have been fighting against holding a clemency hearing because the parole board hasn’t had its full five members. They argue that violates his constitutional due process rights.

Underwood earlier lost his bid before a U.S. District judge alleging he was entitled to have the full five-member board hear his case for clemency. He appealed that and was granted a stay of the clemency hearing.

His original Dec. 4 hearing was cancelled after two board members resigned. It was reset for Monday after Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond objected to the cancellation.

The state argued that prior clemency hearings had fewer than five members present. In addition, state attorneys argued there was no state law that mandated five members be present for a clemency hearing.

Gov. Kevin Stitt has since appointed a fourth member to the board, Tulsa attorney Susan H. Stava, bringing its membership to four.

Only three members are expected to be present for Friday’s clemency hearing, said Tom Bates, executive director.

It is possible Underwood could appeal the most recent ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

His attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.

Underwood was convicted for the 2006 suffocation of Jamie Rose Bolin, 10. Her partially decapitated body was found in a plastic tub in his Purcell apartment.

He had planned to rape and cannibalize her body, according to public documents. He confessed to the crime.

Underwood is set to die Dec. 19 by lethal injection at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.